--- title: Apple changes full-disk access permissions to curb abuse... description: Apple is changing macOS privacy settings governing full-disk access permissions after Meta's AI agent Muse was found to read a user's Apple Messages without... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/apple-changes-full-disk-access-permissions-to-curb-abuse-from-ai-agents-a9i0irvoc twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Apple changes full-disk access permissions to curb abuse from AI agents | daily.dev og:description: Apple is changing macOS privacy settings governing full-disk access permissions after Meta's AI agent Muse was found to read a user's Apple Messages without... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/apple-changes-full-disk-access-permissions-to-curb-abuse-from-ai-agents-a9i0irvoc og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/A9i0irvOC.png og:image:alt: Apple changes full-disk access permissions to curb abuse from AI agents og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Apple changes full-disk access permissions to curb abuse from AI agents **[Ars Technica](https://daily.dev/sources/arstechnica)** · 2 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Apple is changing macOS privacy settings governing full-disk access permissions after Meta's AI agent Muse was found to read a user's Apple Messages without explicit consent for that specific capability. The controversy began when a tech columnist reported Muse surfaced content from a private Messages thread he never authorized it to read. Meta's CTO defended the product, saying Messages integration requires both full-disk access and an opt-in connector setting, but a macOS security researcher countered that full-disk access alone grants read access to nearly all non-root files, undermining the claim that the connector toggle was a meaningful additional safeguard. Apple's announcement aims to tighten these permissions to prevent similar misuse by third-party AI agents. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Why is Apple changing full-disk access permissions on macOS? Apple is tightening macOS full-disk access permissions to stop third-party app developers, including AI agents, from misusing that system-level privilege to read message histories and other private data. The change follows reports that Meta's Muse AI agent read and surfaced content from a user's private Apple Messages conversation without clear consent for that specific access. _Developers building AI agents on macOS should track permission changes like this on daily.dev before they break an integration._ ### Does granting full-disk access on macOS let an app read Apple Messages even without a specific Messages permission? Yes, according to macOS security expert Patrick Wardle, full-disk access on macOS grants read access to effectively any non-root file, including Messages chat databases, browsing history, and browser cookies. This contradicts claims that a separate app-level connector toggle is a meaningful safeguard once full-disk access has already been granted. _Anyone weighing AI agent permissions on macOS can follow security breakdowns like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [I said no and Apple said yes](https://daily.dev/posts/i-said-no-and-apple-said-yes-qhorzoika) · Lobsters · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#ai-agents](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-agents), [#apple](https://daily.dev/tags/apple), [#privacy](https://daily.dev/tags/privacy), [#mac](https://daily.dev/tags/mac) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/apple-changes-full-disk-access-permissions-to-curb-abuse-from-ai-agents-a9i0irvoc) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Apple changes full-disk access permissions to curb abuse from AI agents","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/apple-changes-full-disk-access-permissions-to-curb-abuse-from-ai-agents-a9i0irvoc","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/apple-changes-full-disk-access-permissions-to-curb-abuse-from-ai-agents-a9i0irvoc"},"datePublished":"2026-10-03T01:27:50.154Z","dateModified":"2026-10-03T01:28:34.196Z","description":"Apple is changing macOS privacy settings governing full-disk access permissions after Meta's AI agent Muse was found to read a user's Apple Messages without...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/4ead55b452d6e374c7e787b370d8085a?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/4ead55b452d6e374c7e787b370d8085a?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Ars Technica","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Ars Technica","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/80883e0e48a34b5ebcf93777016cb3fe","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/arstechnica"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/apple-changes-full-disk-access-permissions-to-curb-abuse-from-ai-agents-a9i0irvoc","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"ai-agents,apple,privacy,mac","timeRequired":"PT2M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ars Technica","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/arstechnica"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Apple changes full-disk access permissions to curb abuse from AI agents"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/apple-changes-full-disk-access-permissions-to-curb-abuse-from-ai-agents-a9i0irvoc#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Why is Apple changing full-disk access permissions on macOS?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Apple is tightening macOS full-disk access permissions to stop third-party app developers, including AI agents, from misusing that system-level privilege to read message histories and other private data. 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